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Translating Real Estate Marketing Lingo

By
Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Realty

Real Estate JargonReal estate agents often times have creative ways of describing undesirable home features.  We've all read those marketing descriptions that make a property sound great, just to show up at the house and wonder if you arrived at the wrong address.

To help understand the real estate lingo used in marketing descriptions for homes, I've created a short glossary that explains some commonly used real estate marketing terms to assist you in accurately translating these descriptions.

"Cute" - This is another way of saying "really tiny".  For example, "Cute rambler..." probably means that you can cook dinner, change laundry, tuck in the kids, and answer the front door all while standing in the same spot.

"Cozy" - This is one way of describing a room that's smaller than the box that your big screen TV came in.

"Needs TLC" - Major fixer.  It's also not uncommon for the property listing to only have one photo of the outside of the house, because if you saw the inside you might run the other direction.  A gas mask may also be in order.

"Unique" - There's nothing else like it because nobody in their right mind would have designed a house like this.

"Well Maintained" - Old house that has never been updated.  Everything works, including the 1950's range, antique fridge, and coal furnace that takes up half the basement.  The dark brown carpet is 50 years old but still in good condition, and the wood-paneled walls look as good as they did 40 years ago.

"Tons Of Potential" - You'll need to be super creative to figure out how to make the house livable.  If you tear it down to the foundation, that potential might be realized.

"Better Than New" - The do-it-yourself owner completed lots of "upgrades", and because his work was so much better than a professional contractor could do, it justifies the $50,000 over market value that they're asking.

"Peek-A-Boo View" - If all of the leaves fall off the trees and a snow storm breaks several branches off the trees in front of the house this winter, you can see a speck of water or mountain if you stand on top of the chimney.

"Good Bones" - Be prepared to tear the house down to the studs, which are apparently the only remaining good features of the house.

Did I miss any good terms?  If so, feel free to leave a comment.

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Authored by David Monroe, Realtor®, Master Certified Negotiation Expert®
Phone:  (206) 905-8590

Copyright (c) 2013 by The David Monroe Team at Keller Williams Western Realty.

Comments (1)

Ernest Villafranca
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate - Oakland, CA
3923 Grand Ave. Oakland CA, 510-418-9443

"Good bones" - Yeah, be ready to take it to the studs. Good for investors and contractors.

Jul 31, 2017 08:58 PM